Iconoclasm

Iconoclasm was a form of Orthodox Christianity that encouraged the destruction of religious imagery. The Iconoclast heresy plagued the Byzantine Empire in multiple waves. Iconoclasts believed that religious images - icons and depictions of holy figures in particular - were a form of idolatry and were not to be allowed. In their heyday, iconoclasts destroyed innumerable such decorations and icons, sometimes even urged on by Iconoclast emperors.